Frankincense

Song of Solomon 4:5-8

Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies.

Sing it with me now. There is beauty to be found without your brokenness. Some of you act like you need babies to birth, mother, and hold. Those things are wonderful, but like everything has its' place and comes in its' time. Even if you did not as in Luke 23:29, God says you are still as one blessed; again Isaiah 54:1 says many are the children of the one who did not bear them for God our Father gave them to her. Then some of you act like you heard nothing he said at all. Sure, you may feel lost without children while others are enjoying them. I must tell you that the times and seasons are his alone to control. You may as well crown yourself king like Solomon's brother or make yourself as the Song's lover while you are there. God sees; he hears. There will be nothing lost, missing, or broken in the Father's house. Those twin breasts are for Solomon alone and this is a private matter.

For some of you it seems like nothing has been said about sex for all these passages. Then you act like the God of all the universe does not have someone who has room in their house just for you. Notice how the roe are neither male, female, large, or small. They simply are thus they come in a variety of shapes, sizes, colors, and genders. Here is joy, delight, and comfort to be seen within the Song. Now before some of you start to complain about things not found in Scripture, there is a connection between breasts as young roes, espousal, and covenant love. Without getting into much detail, when one is made like the angels of God in Heaven, there will be no giving in marriage as in Matthew 22:30. For then, we will already have everyone we were meant to have. Whether young or old, in or off the stairs of the secret places, God knows your name. He knows where you came from. So also, he knows where each of you are going and who you were meant to be with. More than that, he knows who you will become; it is for this purpose he has called you.

Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense.

Amongst all the sexual metaphors and issues of life found, here is the steadfast refusal to seek refuge elsewhere. Yes, even if Solomon is a king or a dead man in the cemetery, yet will he seek the Lord and in him find his Song. For himself, this will be done until the day breaks and the shadows flee. From the altar to the grave, the act of sex ought to be one of worship to God. In Genesis 2:7 he created it in just an intimate of an act as he did life. Notice here how Solomon treats these mountains and hills with reverence. There is a difference between reverence and worship. We worship God, not our spouses. This business of worshipping each other is not supported anywhere in the Scripture. But we are to reverence our spouses and by this honor the God of Ephesians 5:33. Now this does not mean that Solomon should spoil the mountain of its' myrrh or rob the hill of its' frankincense as some are prone to do. This notion that we should conquer each other is frankly of the devil. See, James 1:17 explains that all good and perfect gifts come from him and to him return. Even in the night watches and on his bed, Solomon lays with his Song and thinks of God. This is a holy thing and ought to be treated as such. Sometimes in the night, robbers break into the house. Like their father the devil, these also of John 10:10 came to steal kill, and destroy. How many of you know that even there in the dark, God abides with you. How many of you know that even from the cross and from the grave he is reigning. Even from beyond the night he stands as King Jesus over all the darkness in this world. Such will not stand before him as darkness for very long. Hold on to hope. Daylight is coming.

Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee.

Here we see King Solomon licking his Song almost as a lioness does her cubs or the wounded leopard her injuries. To be sure he does have some rather fair speech. So, he makes sure his Song is spotless, inside, and out. Well, the inside is the Lord's job. 1 Samuel 16:7 reminds how the Lord looks at the heart as well as the outside. Man can only see "the outward appearance." Sometimes couples end up in therapy due to what they do. You know how some of you be dressed to the nines, keeping up the with Joneses, but you have got a little hood in you. To be fair this is rather the equivalent of 'it's okay baby, daddy's home now.' He can keep you unspotted from the world now according to James 1:27. In this we see the Lord presents us faultless to stand before the throne. Then it will be with neither spot, blemish, or wrinkle on us according to Ephesians 5:27. But in the keeping sometimes he provides you with people like this Solomon to hold and to guide you in the meantime. I am so happy that the Song is not attacked by her husband Solomon for any reason. For unlike many men, the Lord is always fair. You may not feel like life or man has been very fair to you; but in his house, there is nothing lost, missing, or broken.

Come with me from Lebanon, my spouse, with me from Lebanon: look from the top of Amana, from the top of Shenir and Hermon, from the lions' dens, from the mountains of the leopards.

After everything the Song had seen, I would imagine she was relieved to finally see the tops of the dens and mountains rather than their undersides. If you remember in prior texts, her mother's children were angry and would not let her keep her own house. They made her keep their vineyards instead and it was from that wine which she had also drank. So also, these lions and leopards told of here are territorial and quick to anger. The Song might have been worried. However, she was safe with Solomon. We see that the safety of Solomon overlooked where God had brought her from. I would imagine she felt very glad indeed to have her own house and her own place. She might be living by a harem, but in the Lord's world she was over it. In God's time he lifted her up to stand upon the tops of the dens themselves. Solomon is inviting her to share in his protection. Sometimes God has another point of view for us than the one occupied by where we have been. Sorry about that ill-timed interruption. You see, there was also an alliance with Lebanon that David had made. Here the Song is told not to worry about the leopards, the lions, or even Lebanon. God is pulling her out even from this sisters' wives alliance in which she found herself. As Solomon says to her, "come with me" and "come away." This man loves his wife and not even the mountains of where they have been, the other women, nor their cubs can prevent that.